


Silence

by Cherry101



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Aftermath, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest, Sorry for hurting our babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-15 00:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13601889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherry101/pseuds/Cherry101
Summary: The war is over, but lives have been changed forever. The castle and the towns can easily be rebuilt, but the damage to their hearts will always be there.





	Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Heya, I'm Cherry. I'm pretty new to the fandom, but it has captured me and I felt the need to write this. I haven't actually played Conquest, but I have a friend who gives spoilers very easily, and I've been reading a lot. I hope you enjoy!

The palace is far too quiet, Sakura thinks, even as the sound of her footsteps echoes through the halls. 

 

She’s never thought of Shirasagi as quiet - not even when she was younger - but it’s uncomfortably fitting now. 

 

If she really focuses on listening, she can vaguely hear voices arguing, the sound drifting in from one of the meeting rooms. That’s right, she remembers, Nohr is visiting for Hinoka’s coronation. One of the voices belongs to her sister, the others probably belong to the Nohrian nobles. 

 

Hinoka had asked her to join them, before the foreign guests arrived. Sakura had refused, though. She understood where her sister was coming from - of course she did - but the aftermath of the war left its scars on everybody, and she… 

 

she can’t face the Nohrians. Not now. Not while the loss is still so great. 

 

“Are you alright, milady?” 

 

Sakura jumps. Lost in her thoughts as she was, she didn’t hear Subaki approach. She’s happy to see him - one less person she lost, one more person she will continue to hold to her and never let go - but at the same time, there’s something akin to worry in his dark eyes. She doesn’t like that worry. She doesn’t understand it. 

 

Still, she offers one of the only smiles she has left - a small, bitter thing, using most of the strength she can muster - and replies, “I’m just thinking.” 

 

Subaki hums, “Your thoughts must be quite loud.” He doesn’t elaborate, instead offering a hand to her, “Princess Hinoka asks that I fetch you. Will you come with me?” 

 

_ Princess Hinoka is wise to ask you, _ Sakura can’t help but think bitterly. After all, her own retainers live as well, and she could’ve easily sent one of them, but no. Hinoka knows that Sakura’s still weak, still relies far too much on other people. Still relishes in the safety of her own retainers. 

 

“Alright,” she acquiesces, taking his hand. Such intimacy, as small as it was, used to be enough to make her blush. Not anymore, though. 

 

Subaki leads her to the conference room, where a bored Setsuna leans against a wall, watching Hinoka argue with King Xander. 

 

_ That’s right. He already had his coronation.  _

 

As soon as she steps into the room - there are eyes watching her, she refuses to look anywhere but at her older sister - the talking ceases. 

 

“Sakura,” Hinoka almost sounds relieved. She runs a hand through vibrant red hair - much brighter than Sakura’s own - and turns to the guests, “If you’ll excuse us, I need to talk to my sister.” The last two words are spoken with a hint of venom. Sakura’s not surprised; Hinoka has always been the bitter one, the one to hold grudges viciously. 

 

“Of course,” she vaguely hears King Xander say, before the sound of footsteps increases and decreases. 

 

“You wanted to see me, sister?” Sakura asks, and she can’t help but wince internally at the tone of her voice. 

 

Something flickers in Hinoka’s eyes - guilt, perhaps, or shame, or maybe sorrow - and she gestures to the table. “I... “ She clears her throat, as if to summon the courage to talk like the Queen she’s about to be, “I’ve been working on rebuilding, as you know, and I wanted your input on a couple of things.” 

 

“Isn’t that why the Nohrians are here?” Sakura can’t help but ask, but nevertheless, she slowly makes her way over to the table. 

 

“They don’t need to see this.” Hinoka says as an answer, and she sounds so resolute in her decision. 

 

It’s only when Sakura sees the designs that she understands. 

 

The courtyard is drawn from a frontward view - she recognizes the cherry blossom trees for which she was named - with three additions. Statues. Monuments. 

 

Off to the side are notes, written in Hinoka’s rough script, are details for the statues to be built. 

 

“They’re beautiful,” she murmurs without realizing that she was speaking. 

 

“I wish there was more I could do.” Hinoka’s voice trembles slightly - only noticeable because Sakura knows her sister, and her sister doesn’t usually speak with that hint of vulnerability - “I wish I could build entire cities in their names. I wish…” 

 

The rest of her sentence, the unspoken  _ I wish I could bring them back,  _ is enough to make Sakura turn around. Hinoka’s not looking at her, her teary eyes downcast, but in a way, the words seem targeted towards her. 

 

_ You’re not alone in your grief,  _ the words seem to say. 

 

Hinoka glances upwards, and then Sakura can see all that her older sister isn’t saying. It’s funny, because although the words are unspoken, she can hear them so clearly in the otherwise heavy silence. 

 

“Sister,” she murmurs softly, as not to break the spell. 

 

In that instant, Hinoka’s arms are around her, and the older of the two isn’t outright sobbing but Sakura can feel the wetness of tears dripping onto her shoulder. 

 

Years, even weeks, ago, she would be the one sobbing. She would bury her head in her sister’s chest, allowing her tears to flow easily, because she felt emotions so strongly and crying was the best physical release she knew. 

 

Years, even weeks, ago, though, while she sobbed into her sister’s chest, it would be her brothers that really comforted her. Ryoma’s strong arms, Takumi’s teasingly encouraging words, her mother’s smile that radiated warmth even when her mother was so cold. 

 

All the things she could no longer have, because they were gone, and she just… 

 

she just had to deal with it. 

 

Hinoka feels the burden much more strongly, as she takes a role she never imagined for herself, and it’s obvious how much she needs this release of emotions.

 

Sakura’s not sure how long they stand there, wrapped in an embrace, but eventually Hinoka pulls back, rubbing at her red-rimmed eyes. 

 

“Xander and Corrin are going to be back in here soon,” she murmurs, and Sakura wonders subconsciously how her older sister can refer to the Nohrian nobles so informally, “Do you think…”

 

She doesn’t finish the question, but Sakura understands.

 

“Yeah. It’ll look beautiful.” She assures Hinoka, managing to smile at her sister. Hinoka smiles back, and, for a moment, things are alright. 

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

“Hey there.” 

 

Sakura steps in between the trees, gently tracing her fingers over the fine details of the statues. The architects truly did a good job. Just the sight of the monuments would be enough to make the old Sakura cry her little heart out. 

 

But not this Sakura. No, she’s been hardened by war and by loss and she doesn’t know if she’ll ever have it in her to cry. It still hurts though, still sends flames through her spine and into her stomach, tingles at her skin and makes her feel numb.

 

Her mother’s statue is the biggest. Queen Mikoto, with her motherly pride for all of her people so clear in her facial expression. 

 

“Hinoka’s a good queen. A really good queen. You taught us well.” 

 

She chuckles dryly, rubbing at her eyes. 

 

“You’ll always be the better queen though. Just don’t tell Hinoka I said that. She’s really trying to rebuild Hoshido and strengthen relations with Nohr. I think she’s doing her best.”

 

She glances over at the second largest statue, before walking over to it as well. Beneath the statue was a stone bench. Hinoka’s idea. 

 

“Ryoma. Big brother. You would’ve made an amazing king. The people love you. They still do, even now.” 

 

Sakura sighs softly, rubbing at her eyes again. They burned with furious rigor, an ache that she couldn’t relieve by rubbing alone. 

 

“And we all miss you, Takumi. You were so smart, and so brave. I miss you so much.” 

 

The burn intensifies, and Sakura drapes herself over the bench. 

 

She still feels the sadness, the loss, but it hasn't really hit her until now, and she sobs. She sobs for her mother, taken too soon by trickery. She sobs for Ryoma, forced to end his own life lest the Nohrians end it for him. She sobs for Takumi, corrupted by his own anger and grief. 

 

Hoshido will be fine. Their kingdom will prosper, flourish even, as though the war never happened. 

 

But she’ll never be the same.

  
  



End file.
